Doc’s Call Takes Him Away

Tuesday, September 1: Sad to think we have seen the last of Matt Doherty’s rampaging runs – and scoring talents – in Wolves colours. A look at our Legends section underlines what a terrific impact he made at the club and, as we reflect on the reported £15m fee that has taken him to Tottenham, it’s time for a shout-out for Mick McCarthy and the others who brought him to Molineux and then worked with him in these parts.

Friday, September 4: One of football’s worst-kept summer secrets finally came to fruition today when Rob Kelly was confirmed as assistant manager to David Dunn at League newcomers Barrow. The link-up was first mooted a couple of months ago while Kelly was finalising his Covid-influenced departure from Fortuna Dusseldorf and a piece on Barrow’s website today quoted Dunn as saying: ““I am absolutely delighted Rob has agreed to come on board. It’s a bit of a coup for the club. He was my youth team coach at Blackburn and has a wealth of experience having coached over Europe.”

Tuesday, September 8: Belated deepest condolences to Stewart Ross and his family after appalling news reached us of the death of his daughter Sophie in a road crash in Shropshire. The 48-year-old died last month in an accident in which no other vehicles were involved and, suddenly, the problems football is having are placed very much into perspective.

Monday, September 14: Life gets better and better for Conor Coady. Following an England debut in Denmark last week that earned praise in high places, there was another clean sheet against his name tonight as Wolves opened their season with a fine victory at Sheffield United. As the commentators in Copenhagen remarked amid the lack of crowd noise, he is a brilliant talker on the pitch as well as he is off it when confronted by the microphones and cameras.

Wednesday, September 23: Had the pleasure of meeting up for a coffee with Dean Edwards on a few days’ break in Devon. The former Wolves striker is now manager of Barnstaple Town and is always good value with his stories and thoughts. A three-way meeting with Torquay-based Colin Lee had been talked of but has been put back a few months because of the coronavirus.

Saturday, September 26: Is it really 22 years today since Steve Bull scored the last of his 306 League and cup goals for Wolves (the decider in a tight home game against Bury)? Where did those all those seasons go?

Monday, September 28: First Matt Doherty leaves and now we see Diogo Jota on TV expressing his joy at scoring his first Liverpool goal. We had assumed the Portuguese forward would continue to climb our Goal Aces list and reach his Wolves half century but it shows how far the club have come when we see their players being sold for big money to well-established members of the Premier League elite like this. There have been major arrivals at Molineux, too, so this is a time of transition, with some bumps in the road likely, as we saw at West Ham yesterday.

Wednesday, September 30: Time for some early-season reflections on former Wolves men in jobs elsewhere……it’s great to see Keith Downing and Paul Simpson starting so well with Championship pacesetters Bristol City and Mike Stowell is having another taste of life at the top of the Premier League following Leicester’s magnificent win at Manchester City.